The Job Market: Is a College Degree Worth Less?

This article makes the point that college degrees aren’t as rare and special as they used to be. The writer emphasizes that when students graduate college they’re going to be battling with the thousands of other students who graduated with the exact same degree. This means that debt is increasing and the amount of people without jobs is increasing. This article claims that not all students are suited for college and if they instead went into a field without it, then the degree would become more valuable. In today’s world to stand out and get the job you so desperately want and have worked hard for, you need to put time into field experience, volunteer work etc. Personally I have been warned of this already. I picked up a dual major in special education and early childhood to try to beat some of the odds and I worked with children in the Dominican Republic which should help me stand out. Getting into the work force can be extremely stressful.

Should More People Skip College?

I would never say that college is for everyone, but still after reading this article, I can’t fully agree with what the author has said. I feel as though yes you may not need a college degree, but if you get one and get a job with it then what’s the harm? Yes you will have more loans etc to pay back, but with a degree the possibility of a higher paying job is much higher. You broaden your knowledge and push yourself into a career that maybe you didn’t think you’d ever be able to get into. From what I hear from adults and new graduates of college, is that companies aren’t looking at them without a degree. If this is the case then I believe you need to go to college to ensure that after a long struggle to find a place to higher you, you at least land the job!

Plan B: Skip College

Of all three articles, this one had the line that fit exactly the way I think about pushing kids to make something out of themselves in college: “If we’re telling kids, ‘You can’t cut the mustard, you shouldn’t go to college or university,’ then we’re shortchanging them from experiencing an environment in which they might grow.” This is my exact thought. How can you tell a student that they aren’t cut out to be a CEO of a corporation or a politician etc. You should never tell a child to settle because that is how students land themselves stuck in low income environments struggling to get by.

This article also focuses heavily on finding other jobs and programs that students can enroll in where they won’t need a college degree. I think that this could be a good idea because not everyone wants to go to college. However, I believe that high schools should be showing students these opportunities just like they push college. Otherwise, students aren’t aware of their other options.